Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[BHep]

I got the fever! I claimed some SFH eggs in one of the swap threads and I'm excited for them to arrive! These birds are gorgeous.

 

[Spifflove]

Took some updated pics today.

Baby needs some new shoes!

 

[featherednest]

I have a flock of Swedish Flower hens. I was given a rooster and 2 hens that came from eggs sent from Greenfire farms to a friend of mine. The two hens have entirely different feathering. I have hatched 17 chicks so far. I only incubate a few eggs at a time. They are beautiful and sweet tempered. I can't get my pictures to upload, will try posting pics tomorrow

 

[ki4got]

I just ordered a new incubator from dickey's, 3 egg trays, 1 chick tray. My othed dickey' in dull use has maintained a temp of 100.4 and a hum of around 50 since I turned it on this year. Beautiful barnyard, SWF, basque, sussex, Delewares, Ausssies and guinee hens are hatching away. I really like Dickey's incs. the most reliable ( onse you get them set ) I have found. I also have Little Giants. These are not worth the styro foam there made of. I might use them to keep my children warm for afew days after they hatch. Paul

to each their own. 8) i have 4 hovabators, 3 i use for incubation 1 specifically for hatching.
popped these guys out for Bulldogma today. 10 eggs shipped, 6 hatched successfully. lost 1 after pip and the others quit around 2 weeks or so.



i record ALL my hatch statistics, # eggs in, # fertile, # hatch. for # hatched vs # fertile, i'm averaging 72%.
for strictly shipped eggs, i'm at about 50%, and about 85 for homegrown... all with the same set of incubators i've been using now for several years.

it isn't the incubator, it's getting to KNOW your incubator and working around it's quirks.

i'll say it again. incubators have personalities. even the same brand in the same room on the same shelf, is going to vary slightly in how it wants to behave. my #1 and # 2 incubators (used most often for incubation only) are at the exact same temps, monitored by the same thermometer repeatedly. #2 hatches usually a good half day sooner than #1 does. #4 (the hatcher) held humidity much better than the others, so became the hatcher.

i dry incubate 100%, and only keep humidity in the hatcher. so 10-15% is average for the first 18 days, then i up it to 60% for the last 3. I also hatch eggs upright (large end up) in paper egg crates to keep the other chicks from rolling them around. only occasionally do i notice an egg hatching n the small end, then i'll lay it on the paper towel on the bottom. usually does just fine from there.

 

[Bulldogma]

Yesterday I picked up my SFH babies from ki4got - I was so excited - even though one of them wasn't doing so well. The last to hatch has an oozy umbilical and badly curled feet. Poor little thing wasn't doing well.

I took them all home and situated the "special needs" baby in my hatcher to keep it separate and put the others in my baby pen in my coop. It's heated and there is there is a heat lamp in the brooder part. They all settled right in with my 2 home-grown SFH chicks (2 weeks old) and a Dark Cornish chick that hatched the same time as my 2 SFH.

Then tragedy struck...

Some time last night the part of our house that powers our refrigerator, the kitchen and the power line that runs out to the coop went out.

When I went out to the coop this morning, my 2 older SFH chicks were upright, but the rest of the brooder was littered with tiny, fluffy bodies. I can't even tell you how broken-hearted I was to find this!

I scooped up the live babies and all the bodies and took them in my house. I got the upright ones into the hatcher with the "special needs" baby and then checked each little body. 4 (including my older Dark Cornish and 3 SFH chicks) were ice cold and stiff. Three more of the SFH chicks were still floppy but unresponsive. I put those three in the hatcher right away... just in case.

Every few minutes I would go and rub the 3 little unresponsive bodies. Amazingly one of them started to breathe!

I had to go check on the rest of my flock - had some 4-week-olds that lost power too. Luckily the older ones were OK. When I came back in after feeding and checking, all 3 of the unresponsive SFH chicks were moving!

It has been a few hours now, and all 3 are eating and drinking (and staying in the laundry room). The little special needs baby is still not doing well, but I'll keep trying with it.

Please keep your fingers crossed that my remaining SFH chicks survive and thrive. I so appreciate your thoughts and well-wishes for these tiny little babies!

 

[Laingcroft]

I am soooo sorry to hear about your power outage! That is the one thing I dread about winter hatching - losing power. It's happened a few times during lockdown and once with chicks in a brooder. I keep them in the house for the first four weeks for just that reason. If the power goes out, we know it right away and can get them in the living room with heat from the fireplace if need be. I really wish we could afford one of those whole house generators that kicks on automatically when the power goes out.

Keeping fingers crossed for you and sending well wishes, prayers and positive thoughts your way.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Makes me hope I always have a broody for hatching. Rooting for you BDM!

 

[TarheelBirdy]

Yesterday I picked up my SFH babies from ki4got - I was so excited - even though one of them wasn't doing so well. The last to hatch has an oozy umbilical and badly curled feet. Poor little thing wasn't doing well.

I took them all home and situated the "special needs" baby in my hatcher to keep it separate and put the others in my baby pen in my coop. It's heated and there is there is a heat lamp in the brooder part. They all settled right in with my 2 home-grown SFH chicks (2 weeks old) and a Dark Cornish chick that hatched the same time as my 2 SFH.

Then tragedy struck...

Some time last night the part of our house that powers our refrigerator, the kitchen and the power line that runs out to the coop went out.

When I went out to the coop this morning, my 2 older SFH chicks were upright, but the rest of the brooder was littered with tiny, fluffy bodies. I can't even tell you how broken-hearted I was to find this!

I scooped up the live babies and all the bodies and took them in my house. I got the upright ones into the hatcher with the "special needs" baby and then checked each little body. 4 (including my older Dark Cornish and 3 SFH chicks) were ice cold and stiff. Three more of the SFH chicks were still floppy but unresponsive. I put those three in the hatcher right away... just in case.

Every few minutes I would go and rub the 3 little unresponsive bodies. Amazingly one of them started to breathe!

I had to go check on the rest of my flock - had some 4-week-olds that lost power too. Luckily the older ones were OK. When I came back in after feeding and checking, all 3 of the unresponsive SFH chicks were moving!

It has been a few hours now, and all 3 are eating and drinking (and staying in the laundry room). The little special needs baby is still not doing well, but I'll keep trying with it.

Please keep your fingers crossed that my remaining SFH chicks survive and thrive. I so appreciate your thoughts and well-wishes for these tiny little babies!

I'm sorry you lost some. So sad. amazing about the ones that you revived!!

 

[ChickNmamma]

Please keep your fingers crossed that my remaining SFH chicks survive and thrive. I so appreciate your thoughts and well-wishes for these tiny little babies!

 

[minihorse927]

I hope all goes well the rest of the way! Kmfx for you and your babies.